Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-10-29

At414 ~ O4AASS SxA L
tho whole place sesmed alive with the muiu-
tudc Of her spear points, and the ground
shook With the tramp Of her battalionA Il
was evident that the spies had not eng
csratsd; we wesc odtnumbered by at least .
third. At first We expected that Sor,is was
going TO attack US at once, as the clouds OF
cavalry which hung upon her tanks executed
some threatening demonstrations, but she
thought better Of il, and there was no fight
that day. As for the formation Of her great
forces cannot now describe it with accuracy,
and It would only serve TO bswilder il did,
but may say, generally, tlat in its leading
features it resembled our own, only her 70
serve was much greater.
Opposite onr right wing, and forming
Sorais' left wing, was . great army Of dark.
wild looking men, armed with sword and
shield only, which. was informed, was COM
posesi Of Nasta's 25 600 savage hillsmen.
~My word. Good. d" said l, when I saw them,
syou will catch it tomorrow when those
gentlemen charged" whereat Good not un-
naturally looked rather anxious.
All day We watched and waited, but moth
ing happened, and at last night fell, and q
thousand watch fires twinkled brightly on the
slopes, to wane and die one by one like the
stars they resembled. as tho hours wore ON
md the silence gradually gathered more
deeply over the opposing hosts.
It was very wearying night, for in ad-
dition to the endless things thas had been
seen to, there was our gnawing suspense to
reckon with. Tho fray which tomorrow
would witness would be so vast, and the
slau liter SO awful, that stout, indeed, must
tho heart have been that was not over
whelmed at the prospect.
The time wore away till everything was
ready Tor the coming slaushter; and l
lay down and thought, and tried to get
little rest.
And at last up came the red sun. and the
huge camps awoke with clash and roar,
and gathered themselves together for battle.
It was a beautiful and awe inspiring scene,
and old Umslopogaas, leaning ON his AZ,
contemplated it with grim delight.
.Never have seen like, MacumaEahn,
never be said -The battles Of my people
are 0s the play Of children to what this will
be. Thinkest thou that they will light it
outf7
sAy," answered sadly, ito the death.
Content thysel'. 'woodpecker,' for once shalt
thou find thy fill"
Time went on. and still there was no sign
Of an attack. A force Of cavalry crossed
the brook, indeed, and rode slowly along our
front, evidently taking stock Of our position
and numbers With this We did not attempt
to interfere, a our decision was to stand
strictly on the defensive, and not to waste .
single man. The men brealfasted and stood
TO their arms, and the hours wore on. About
midday, when the men were eating their
dinner, for We thought they would fight bet
ter on full stomachs, . shout Of -Sc'ais,
Sorais," arose like thunder from the encmyis
extreme right, and taking the glass, was
able to clearly distinguish the Lady Of the
Night herself, surrounded by . giittering
stan, and riding slowly down the lines Of her
battalioua And as she went, that mighty,
laundering shout rolled along before her like
the rolling Of 900 chariots, or the roaring
Of the ocean when the gale turns suddenly
and carries the noiss OF it to the listsIers'
ears, till the earth shook. and the air WAS full
Of the majesty Of sound.
Guessing chat this was . prelude to the b.
ginning Of tho battle, We remained still and
made ready.
We had not long to wait suddenly, like
fame from . cannons mouth, out shot two
great tongue like forces Of cavalry, and came
charging down the slops towards the little
stream, slowly at first, but gathering speed
q they CANA Before they got TO the stream.
orders reached me from Sir Henry, who evil
IDENTIFY feared that the shock Of such charge,
il allowed to fall unbroken upon our in
fantry, would be too much for them, to send
five thousand sabers to meet the force op.
posite to me, at the moment when it began to
mount the stifiest OF the rise about four
hundred yards from Our tineA This did, re-
maininy behind myself with the rest Of my
meg,
OF went the 5,O00 horsemen, drawn up In
Q wedcelike form, and must say that tho
general in command handled them very ably.
Starting at . hand gallop for the first 800
yards, he rode straight at the tip Of the
tongue shaped mass Of cavalry which, num-
herring, 70 far ~ could judge, about eight
thousand sabers, was advancing to meet u.
Then be suddenly swervsd to the right and
PIT. on the pace, and saw the great wedge
carl round, and before the foe could check
hi nself and turn to meet it, strike him about
half way down his length with q crashing.
rc.,dins sound, like the breaking up Of vast
sheets Of ice In sank the great wedge into
his heart, and as it cut its way hundreds OF
horsemen were thrown up on either side Of It,
just as the earth is thrown up BY . plow-
share, or, more like stil, as the foaning water
curls over beneath tbs bows Of . rushing
ship. In, yet in, vainly does the tongue twist
its ends round in agony, like an injured snake,
and strive to protect its center; still farther
in, BY Heaven! right through, and so. amid
cheer after cheer from our watching thous-
ands, back again upon the severed ends, beat
ing them down, driving them Is gale drives
spray, till at last, amid the rushing Of hun
dretls Of riderless horses, the flashing Of
swords, and the victorious clamor Of their
pursuers. the great force crumples up like an
empty glove. then turns and galiops pell nell
for safety hack 70 its own lines.
do not think it reached them moro than
twothirds as strong - it went out ten min
utes befora The lines which were now ad-
vancing to the attack opened and swallowed
them up, and my force returned, having suf-
fersd loss Of only about i've hundred men-
not much. thought, considering tho fierce
ness Of the struggle could also ses that the
opposing bodies Of cavalry on our left wing
were drawing back, but how the fight went
with them do not quite know. It is q
much as can do to describe what took place
Immediately around me.
By this time the immense masses Of the en-
emy's left, composed almost entirely Of Mas
tas swordxnen, were across the little stream,
and with alternate yells Of "Nasta" and $50
rais," with dancing banners ard cleaning
swords were swarrning up toward u like
anita
Again received orders to try and check
this movement, and also the main advance
against the chest Of our army. BY means OF
cavalry charges, and this did to tho best Of